Qomati: Hezbollah satisfied with Lebanese response to US disarmament proposal

BEIRUT — The deputy head of Hezbollah's political council, Mahmoud Qomati, told local television channel OTV that the Lebanese response to the U.S. proposal on how the country should go about disarming Hezbollah adheres to Lebanese sovereignty and is satisfactory to the group.

Qomati said the response was made with the consensus of President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, adding that Hezbollah’s opinion was taken into account.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack visited Beirut this week to promote Washington’s “roadmap” for disarming Hezbollah. In a separate interview with LBCI, Barrack said President Donald Trump had “no patience” and warned that if Lebanon continues to delay, “the United States will no longer be there to discuss it.”

“What we said in our response is that we will not discuss any new matter unless the cease-fire agreement is implemented... and the official Lebanese response prioritized implementing the agreement and ending the occupation,” Qomati said.

Although a cease-fire agreement was signed in late November 2024, after more than 13 months of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, the latter continues to occupy five areas in the South and carries out near-daily strikes.

Qomati said that “the resistance’s weapons fall within the framework of defending Lebanon and are being discussed at the dialogue table with President Aoun regarding the defense strategy,” adding that “the Americans have so far provided nothing to support Aoun's mission.”

He stressed that Hezbollah would not hand over its weapons but is ready for dialogue about the role of the resistance’s arms within Lebanon’s defense strategy.

“Can the [Lebanese] Army defend Lebanon, and is it even allowed to have weapons? So if we hand over our weapons, well then, bye-bye to Lebanon’s sovereignty and its current formula,” he added.

Qomati also responded to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s claim that his party has no weapons aside from the Maarab guards, saying: “Who is Geagea kidding? We know where their weapons depots are, where the arms come from. Did he borrow weapons from the Free Patriotic Movement during the Tayyouneh incident to kill citizens?”

In October 2021, armed clashes broke out between alleged LF supporters positioned in Ain al-Rummaneh and militants from Hezbollah and Amal, who had entered the neighborhood en route to a demonstration near the Beirut Palace of Justice. The protest aimed to demand the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigation into the 2020 Beirut Port explosion.